From one photography collector to another: a venue for thoughtful discussion of vintage and contemporary photography via reviews of recent museum exhibitions, gallery shows, photography auctions, photo books, art fairs and other items of interest to photography collectors large and small.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Auction: Photographs, November 14, 2009 @Phillips

Phillips has switched the order of its New York and London photographs sales this year, putting the London photographs sale right next to Frieze (and generally in line with the New York photographs season earlier in October) and the New York photographs sale later this week, right on the heels of the main New York Contemporary Art season. Both moves reinforce the house's positioning of photography away from the traditional vintage crowd and more toward the world of contemporary art.

This sale has echoes of Phillips' other recent photographs sales, as it is bookended by a further installment of Mapplethorpe prints from Lisa Lyon's collection, as well as another sampler of vintage Japanese work from the Jacobson/Hashimoto collection. In the middle, a selection of images (many celebrity/fashion) by Albert Watson can be found. There are a total of 294 photography lots on offer, with a Total High Estimate of $3461100. (Catalog cover at right, via Phillips.)

Here's the breakdown:

Total Low Lots (high estimate up to and including $10000): 203

Total Low Estimate (sum of high estimates of Low lots): $1121100

Total Mid Lots (high estimate between $10000 and $50000): 81

Total Mid Estimate: $1655000

Total High Lots (high estimate above $50000): 10

Total High Estimate: $685000

The top lot by High estimate is lot 105, Thomas Ruff, Nude ox03, 2006, at $60000-80000.

Here is a short list of the photographers who are represented by three or more lots in the sale (with the number of lots in parentheses):

.

Robert Mapplethorpe (14)

Albert Watson (11)

William Eggleston (10)

IwaoYamawaki (8)

Horst P. Horst (7)

ShikanosukeYagaki (7)

Ansel Adams (6)

NobuyoshiAraki (5)

Diane Arbus (5)

Peter Beard (5)

Larry Clark (5)

Patrick Demarchelier (5)

YasumasaMorimura (5)

KoyoOkada (5)

MinayoshiTakada (5)

George Tice (5)

Joel-Peter Witkin (5)

Bill Brandt (4)

Nan Goldin (4)

Irving Penn (4)

SebastiaoSalgado (4)

Wolfgang Tillmans (4)

Berenice Abbott (3)

Helena Almeida (3)

Edward Burtynsky (3)

Henri Cartier-Bresson (3)

Emmet Gowin (3)Sally Mann (3)

Thomas Ruff (3)

Flip Schulke (3).

For our particular collection, there are a few lots that caught our eye. They include: